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State releases draft tunnel finance plan — turns out it was already online

Last week, the Protect Seattle Now campaign sued the state Transportation Department for a copy of the state’s draft financial plan on the State Route 99 tunnel project. Protect Seattle Now had asked for the document under the state’s open records law and WSDOT refused, arguing the records were exempt because they were under review by the Federal Highway Administration.

“If there’s nothing bad, then what’s the big deal? Why withhold the financial plan,” attorney Gary Manca asked just before he filed a complaint in King County Superior Court.

Oddly, it turned out the documents were already mostly available online, although not easily found.

Elizabeth Campbell, who leads another citizen group against the tunnel project (Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel), made the discovery and held a news conference Monday.

On Tuesday, WSDOT officially released the documents and links to the report and lengthy appendices on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project’s website. (Seattlepi.com also had requested a copy of the financial plan).

“This is a unique situation,” said Ron Paananen, Alaskan Way Viaduct program administrator, in the news release. “We usually release a plan like this after it has been approved by the Federal Highway Administration so as to not cause public confusion. In this specific instance it appears to be in the public interest to release the draft while it is still undergoing review.”

WSDOT says the documents pretty much show what the state already has said so far: the state plans to pay for the $3.1 billion project with about $1.9 billion in state gas tax money, just under $500 million in federal money, $300 million from the Port of Seattle, and $400 million in toll revenue.

But as the news release says, it does not “include details about interest payments or other financial details, which will be part of an investment-grade study completed at a later date.” Protect Seattle Now wants to know whether the project still pencils out with the federal government cutting spending, the economy in the tank, and gas tax revenues on the decline.

The draft financial report gives us this statement: “WSDOT is confident that the financial commitments for the Replacement Project are sufficient despite the impact the current economic downturn has had on motor fuel tax revenue. As a high priority project in Washington State, the state is committed to funding and building the Replacement Project as a critical component of the Alaska Way Viaduct program,” the document says.

WSDOT also says that it would still need the Legislature to authorize selling bonds paid by toll revenue. If that didn’t happen, “WSDOT will work with the legislature to find alternative sources of funding,” the report says.

“Options may include a mix of the following: reducing or deferring other WSDOT projects within the state, alternative financing with private parties, perhaps pursuing other federal programs like the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA), revising use of other funding from Port or local sources, or perhaps using the capacity within WSDOT’s federal program.”

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.